U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

National Institute of Justice

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

OFF ICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS

BJA NI J OJJDP BJS OVC

National Institute of Justice

P r o g r a m F o c u s

Keeping Incarcerated

Mothers and Their

Daughters Together:

Girl Scouts Beyond Bars
2 National Institute of Justice

PROGRAM FOCUS

Highlights

Children of prison inmates are the hidden victims

of their parents’ crimes. Like children of divorced

or deceased parents, they often show signs of

distress caused by the lack of a stable home life

and parental separation, such as depression, aggression, poor school performance, and truancy.

Many times they also follow their parents’ criminal behavior patterns. To keep mothers and daughters connected and to enhance parenting skills,

Girl Scouts Beyond Bars involves mothers in

their daughters’ lives through a unique partnership between a youth services organization and

State and local corrections departments.

Girl Scouts Beyond Bars programs have been

implemented in the following States:

■ Maryland. In 1992 the pilot program began

at the Maryland Correctional Institution for

Women. More than 30 girls now visit their

mothers 2 Saturdays each month. On alternate Saturdays, they attend meetings at a

community church, just as girls in other

troops would. Before the Girl Scout program

started, many of these girls rarely visited their

incarcerated mothers.

■ Florida. Its first program started at the

Jefferson Correctional Institution near

Tallahassee in early 1994, and a second

program soon followed in Fort Lauderdale. The Florida Department of Corrections hopes to expand the program to

correctional facilities throughout the State.

The program includes formal parenting instruction and transitional services for the

mothers and monitoring of the children’s

school performance, and collaboration with

mental health care providers.

■ Ohio. The Seal of Ohio Girl Scout Council

launched the first program in a prerelease

center, the Franklin Pre-Release Center in

Columbus. When the Girl Scout council

expanded the program to the Ohio Reformatory for Women in 1994, Ohio became the

first to connect the inprison program with

the transition to home.

■ Arizona. Maricopa County (Phoenix) is

the first jail site in the country to form a

Girl Scouts Beyond Bars partnership.

Parents Anonymous and Big Brothers/

Big Sisters have also joined the effort.

Girl Scout councils in four other States have

also begun Girl Scouts Beyond Bars programs with their corrections partners. While

the partnership has demonstrated its ability to

increase mother-daughter visitation time, the

long-term effect of breaking the cycle of criminal behavior will require a more comprehensive approach on the part of the correctional

institution, the Girl Scout council, and the

mothers involved.

The program, however, may be used as a

model to involve more youth service organizations in crime prevention. Partnerships

should include many community service organizations that can provide the range of

support services for incarcerated parents and

their children to stop negative social behaviors and to break intergenerational cycles of

involvement in crime.

 irl Scouts Beyond Bars” may sound like a

tabloid headline. It is not meant, however, to convey

the notion of a group of Girl Scouts absconding with

the proceeds from their annual cookie sale. It designates an inmate mother-child visitation program that

began as a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) demonstration project in November 1992.

“G

Keeping Incarcerated Mothers

and Their Daughters Together:

Girl Scouts Beyond Bars

by Marilyn C. Moses

This first-of-its-kind Girl Scout troop consists of more than 30 daughters whose

mothers live at the Maryland Correctional

Institution for Women1 (MCIW). The

girls meet with their mothers at the corrections facility 2 Saturdays a month, and

on alternate Saturdays they meet at a Baltimore church where they work closely

with Girl Scout volunteers on projects just

as girls in other troops would.

In July 1993 just 8 months after the first

troop meeting, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges honored

the program with its annual “Unique and

Innovative Project” award. The Maryland
Program Focus 3

PROGRAM FOCUS

“When children don’t know, they fantasize,” observed Lisa Cid, the Girl Scout

Council of Maryland’s (GSCM’s) executive director. “They create an image of

what happened to Mommy—and some of

those imaginary pictures are horrible.

They envision their mothers in chains.”

People on both sides of the prison fence

suffer emotionally. “You need only impose a sentence of incarceration on a

mother whose children are present to

know what a terrible impact it has on the

children,” said Judge Carol E. Smith.3

Judge Smith also observed that children

are the hidden victims of their parents’

crimes and subsequent incarceration as

well as their inability to provide a stable,

prosocial home environment.4 Studies

have shown that children of incarcerated

persons are more likely to experience:

■ Anxiety, depression, and aggression.5

■ Decline in school performance, attention disorders, and truancy.6

■ Teen pregnancy and symptoms of

post-traumatic stress.7

Beyond these problems, evidence indicates that many of these children follow

their parents into the criminal justice system. Sadly, Deputy Commissioner

Pereira’s observation is one that many

others could make: “I’ve been in corrections for 18 years and I’ve seen three generations of people in facilities—grandmother, mother, and daughter at the same

time. I’ve seen where the mother was

here, gave birth to a child, and the child is

now here.”

A reliable measure to assess the risk that

children of incarcerated persons have of

becoming involved in the criminal justice

system is not available. One study estimated that children with imprisoned parents may be almost six times more likely

than their counterparts to become incarcerated.8

 A survey of youth in custody indicated that about a third reported that a

Criminal Justice Association followed in

December 1994 with its first “Outstanding Program” award.

NIJ has helped start similar Girl Scout

programs in several other correctional institutions: the Jefferson Correctional Institution in Monticello, Florida; Broward

Correctional Institution in Pembroke

Pines, Florida; Franklin Pre-Release in

Columbus, Ohio; the Ohio Reformatory

for Women in Marysville; the Estrella Jail

in Phoenix, Arizona; the Delaware

Women’s Correctional Institution; the

Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for

Women in New Jersey; the Kentucky

Correctional Institution for Women; and

the California Rehabilitation Center in

Norco. NIJ is currently working with Girl

Scout and corrections officials from 10

other States who are also interested in

replicating the program.

This Program Focus first discusses the social and judicial context for this unique

program, then describes the first four programs in operation, and concludes with an

examination of the broader issues that

these programs should confront to effectively change the lives of youths at risk.

Children,

the Hidden Victims

Parental separation is difficult for children

in any circumstance. Many of the adverse

effects observed in children of incarcerated persons are also consistent with studies of children placed in foster care, those

whose parents have divorced, and those

who have experienced the death of a

parent.2

Maryland correctional officials believe

that about 80 percent of the women at

MCIW are mothers. “We estimate that for

every mother incarcerated at MCIW, three

children are affected,” reported

Maryland’s Deputy Commissioner of

Corrections Melanie C. Pereira.

parent had been incarcerated at some

time; a quarter said a brother or sister had

been incarcerated.9 (See “Interfamilial

Incarceration.”)

Since the Maryland program began, one

Girl Scout’s older sister (who did not participate in the program) has already followed her mother into MCIW. Now the

teenage Girl Scout has a mother and sister

in prison at the same time. The Girl

Scouts Beyond Bars (GSBB) program

may just keep her from following them. It

has the potential of preventing many

daughters from following in their mothers’ footsteps.

The Partnership

The GSBB program was created by NIJ.

It is based on a unique partnership between correctional departments and a major youth service organization established

to respond to the needs of girls whose

Survey questions posed to women in

MCIW:

Is the father of any of your children

incarcerated now?

Yes ..................... 19.1%

Don’t know ..........3.3

Are any other members of your family

incarcerated now?

Yes ..................... 31.2%

Of those answering “yes”:

Brother ............... 62.2 %

Other (nephews,

cousins, uncles)..19.5

Father ................... 6.1

Mother ................. 3.7

Sister .................... 3.7

Husband ............... 1.2

Son ....................... 1.2

Source: Preliminary results of a survey

administered by the Maryland Governor’s

Office of Children, Youth, and Families in

1992.

Interfamilial

Incarceration
4 National Institute of Justice

PROGRAM FOCUS

Photo by Jack Owen

At the end of a Girl Scouts Beyond Bars meeting,

Serena embraces her daughter. Without the program

the two might not have seen each other until

Serena’s release from Florida’s Jefferson County

Correctional Institution.

Photo by Phil Sears for the Tallahassee Democrat

mothers are incarcerated and perceived

inadequacies of inprison visitation programs. Previously few organized programs encouraged children to visit their

parents. Those few programs have usually

depended on one dynamic leader, someone from within the correctional institution or from the community. Thus, many

of these programs have had a short life

expectancy. Existing programs have also

rarely offered anything to the child or parent beyond the visit itself.

Considering these observations and the

findings of the Carnegie Corporation of

New York’s Task Force on Youth Development and Community Programs, the

GSBB program seemed a logical response. The Carnegie Foundation study

found that youth service organizations

“reach many young people, although usually not the ones who need service the

most, but their potential remains largely

untapped.”10 By creating a partnership between the Girl Scouts and prisons, the potential to reach some of those young

people in need could be realized.

The partnership concept is also supported

by the Maryland Governor’s Committee

to Study Sentencing and Correctional Alternatives for Women Convicted of

Crime.11 Judge Kathleen O’Ferrall

Friedman noted, “While the committee

did not specifically call for such a partnership, it offers much of what the committee

had hoped for; it provides an opportunity

for increased as well as supervised visits

by children. It also offers the children a

chance to be involved with adult Girl

Scout volunteers from the community.

These women provide an opportunity for

the girls to see that different life choices

can be made.”12

It takes a whole

village to raise a child.

The African proverb indicating the importance of the community in influencing the

way a child grows up has new meaning in

the United States today. Many major

youth service organizations were built on

a family model. These organizations historically relied on parents to deliver their

program and provide leadership for

youths. Most frequently mothers and fathers served as troop leaders or den

mothers. Parents typically purchased the

uniforms, books, and supplies. They

shared carpooling responsibilities and

supervised cookie sales or staffed the hot

dog stand at the community fair to raise

money for camping trips and other

expeditions.

“Family life in America has changed, and

so have the Nation’s communities. Fewer

and fewer young adolescents are raised by

a caring, supportive family surrounded by

a caring, supportive community,” according to the Carnegie task force.13

This situation creates a major challenge

for youth organizations. Underfunded

youth service organizations, built on a

family model, are now faced with the

need to provide services to children of

“zero parent” families.14

Between 1986 and 1991, the State prison

population grew 58 percent. During that

time the number of incarcerated men increased by 53 percent, while the population of incarcerated women increased by

75 percent.15 Families are more likely to

be broken by a woman’s confinement

within the criminal justice system than by

a man’s.16 Children whose mothers are incarcerated obviously fit the “zero parent”

profile.

Judge Friedman explained, “The Governor’s committee found that a vast majority of incarcerated Maryland women are

not only parents but single parents. When

mothers are imprisoned, their children are

rarely able to stay with the other parent.

Quite often the father is altogether absent

from the child’s life, or is in prison himself. Incarcerated mothers must rely on

other family members, many times grandparents, friends, or as a last resort on foster care.” (See “Caregivers of Children

During MCIW Mothers’ Incarceration.”)

When a mother is incarcerated, a grandparent most commonly assumes care of

the child. Most grandparents had not contemplated full-time care of their grandchildren at this stage in their lives. Many

are not physically or financially able to

provide the ideal level of care their grandchildren need.17 If a grandparent cannot

take responsibility for the child, usually

other family members will take in the
Program Focus 5

PROGRAM FOCUS

child. Frequently those relatives have

their own children whose needs understandably may take priority.

Robin Gamble, GSCM’s project coordinator, said, “We cannot ask more of the

child’s caregiver than has already been

asked in this circumstance. We must rely

on dedicated volunteers from the community. These women have taken a personal

interest in these girls and have become the

village—they are doing what parents ordinarily would do.”

Competition for volunteer time is intense.

Ms. Gamble said, “With such great demands on time, frequently people are

looking for a limited, one-shot, volunteer

experience in which a tangible result can

be immediately observed. That type of

volunteer is needed in our program, but

what is harder to find are committed volunteers who will be there for the children

week after week.”

The Maryland

Demonstration

Project

Except for the atypical location with

metal detectors, clanging gates, and

razorwire fences, the mother-daughter

gatherings at MCIW differ little from Girl

Scout meetings held in the community.

“They are much the same, the only difference might be the presence of so many

mothers,” said volunteer Charlotte Lee.

The daughters, who range in age from 5

to 17, join their mothers 2 Saturdays each

month for a Girl Scout meeting in the

prison gymnasium. During these 2-hour

sessions, the women spend supervised

time with their daughters in structured

play and working on troop projects.

“When the idea was presented to me, my

first thought was ‘are you crazy?’” said

Deputy Commissioner Pereira. “Afterwards the idea made sense. The strength

of this visitation program is that it offers

assume responsibility and develop organizational skills. With Girl Scout staff support, the mothers take responsibility for

some of the planning for the motherdaughter meetings. The correction

facility’s limit of a 1-hour monthly planning session for mothers and Girl Scout

staff limits the mothers’ ability to take total charge of planning.

Recently, however, the mothers did organize a ceremony to honor the volunteers

who make the program possible. Volunteer Marva Williams said, “I never knew

our efforts meant so much to the mothers.

I guess they’ve got me for another year.”

Indeed it was an impressive affair. To accomplish it, however, the mothers met for

at least five 1-hour planning sessions over

several months and had help from Girl

Scout staff.

Training in parenting. Before incarceration, most of MCIW’s inmate mothers

were their children’s primary caretakers.

(See “Profile of an MCIW Mother.”) Although many of these mothers have not

been ideal parents,18 most will resume

their parental role when released.

Given these realities, a link between the

Girl Scout program and MCIW’s

parenting education program and other inthe child more than just a visit.”

The troop meetings are both fun and educational. Activities have had varied

themes such as aerobics, a miniscience

fair, and arts and crafts. More serious issues have also been addressed in a creative manner. Mothers and their daughters

attended a puppet show on violence prevention. Sessions on various contemporary and family life issues have also been

held on such topics as self esteem, drug

abuse, relationships, coping with family

crises, anatomy and physiology of the reproductive system, and teenage pregnancy

prevention.

On alternate Saturdays, when the girls are

not meeting with their mothers at MCIW,

they meet at Corpus Christi Church in

downtown Baltimore to finish projects

and start new ones. They spend time with

Girl Scout volunteers, who serve as mentors, and with new friends in the troop.

Occasionally, the girls take field trips as

part of the broader Girl Scout program in

the community. Such activities have included a leadership conference at a beach

resort with more than 100 other Girl

Scouts from across the State, a day camp

experience, a Halloween sleep-over, a trip

to the Baltimore Museum of Industry, and

an evening of roller skating. Several girls

also attended an annual sleep-over and activity night at a local shopping mall with

400 other Girl Scouts.

Focus on the mothers. Using the prison

and community troop meetings as a catalyst, the program is opening avenues of

communication between parent and child.

One mother remarked, “I’ve gotten three

letters from my daughter this week. That

never happened before the Girl Scouts.”

As the Scout slogan says, “The Girl Is

First in Girl Scouts,” but in this program

the mother is just as important. In addition to increased visiting time, one aim of

the program is to enable the mothers to

Caregivers of

Children During

MCIW Mothers’

Incarceration

Grandparent ....... 50.2 %

Other relative ..... 21.5

Father ................. 13.0

Foster care ........... 7.7

Don’t know .......... 4.4

Institution ............. 0.6

Source: Preliminary results of a survey

administered by the Maryland Governor’s

Office of Children, Youth, and Families in

1992.
6 National Institute of Justice

PROGRAM FOCUS

stitutional services would seem sensible.

However, the connection has not been

made. Maryland correctional administrators cite their need to offer a variety of

program opportunities to many women

rather than concentrating limited resources on a few.19

Mothers receive some training from Girl

Scout staff who help them plan and run

the mother-daughter meetings, but they

need more help with parenting skills. To

supplement the Girl Scouts’ work, the

mothers work in a group setting with a licensed social worker for 1 hour each

month. While no formal parenting instruction is offered in these monthly Saturday

sessions, Deborah Pierson-Agbebakun

volunteers her time to provide a forum for

the women in the GSBB program to discuss various family-related concerns and

to develop parenting-from-afar coping

mechanisms.

“Late last year in one session we did a

role-play,” explained Pierson-Agbebakun.

“In one scenario a mother had to respond

to a telephone call from her daughter who

said that she was pregnant. Later a teenage daughter in the program did call to

tell her mother that she was 3 months

pregnant. Obviously the mother was upset, but she said that the role-play she observed earlier helped her to respond

appropriately.”

Pierson-Agbebakun said she had seen

mothers grow through the program over

the past year. She stressed the importance

of the program in terms of its continuing

the mother-child bond: “If there has been

little or no communication during the period of incarceration, imagine the stress

both mother and daughter are likely to experience when they are suddenly expected

to resume their relationship after the

mother is released . . . . this program fills a

tremendous need for positive communication during a period of mother-child

separation.”

However, Pierson-Agbebakun noted that

the program falls short in two areas. First,

the girls and their caregivers are not receiving the same mental health support

through the programs as the mothers.20

Second, when a mother is transferred to

the Baltimore Pre-Release unit, she cannot attend the regular mother-daughter

Girl Scout meetings. The transfer disrupts

the mother-daughter communication that

is essential to easing the mother’s move

back home.

Release from prison. Continuity and

transitional issues are a concern for both

Girl Scout and correctional administrators.21 Involvement in the program does

not end for the children once their mothers are released or transferred to prerelease. However, because the program

lacks funds and enough volunteers, when

a mother leaves MCIW, her daughter’s

participation in the Girl Scout program

drops from 4 to 2 Saturdays a month. She

can participate in the community troop

meetings but not those at MCIW.

When the mothers return to the community, they are encouraged to continue to

participate in the community-based program. In Maryland most girls continue in

the program, but no mother has accompanied her daughter to more than one community meeting. The mothers’ lack of

continued involvement can be explained

by work schedules, the demands of other

family responsibilities, and in a few cases,

a lack of interest.

“We recognize the importance of this program and the need to support the Girl

Scouts of Central Maryland (GSCM),”

said Stephen A. Bocian of the Governor’s

Office of Justice Administration. “An

advisory group of members from the

criminal justice, legal, and business communities has been formed. We hope to

draw on our collective resources to institutionalize, strengthen, and sustain this

program for the girls and their mothers.”

Operational issues. Women from all

custody levels may participate in the

Maryland program if they meet the requirements of the correctional institution’s screening process. MCIW Warden

James A. Carter explained, “Among other

requirements, the women cannot have a

history of child abuse and they must be

infraction-free for 6 months before they

can apply. They also must remain infraction-free while in the program. We have a

few ‘charter’ members in this group who

Profile of an MCIW Mother

Average age ..................................... 29.5

Average age of first intercourse ......15.5

Average age of first pregnancy........ 17.9

Average number of children ............. 2.4

Average child’s age ........................... 7.5

68.7% were children’s primary

caregiver prior to arrest

Were single parents ......................... 86.1

Received AFDC prior to arrest ........ 45.8

Had not had a visit from

children since imprisonment............ 28.6

Saw their children less

than 1 time per month ...................... 35.7

Plan to reunite with their

children after release ....................... 94.0

73.9% were women of color

Had no high school

diploma or GED .............................. 50.2

Were unemployed at the

time of their arrest ........................... 65.1

Had been incarcerated before .......... 36.1

Were physically or sexually abused

(as a child, adult, or both) ................ 51.7

Had a drug/alcohol-related arrest .... 52.9

Source: Preliminary results of a survey

administered by the Maryland Governor’s

Office of Children, Youth, and Families in

1992.
Program Focus 7

PROGRAM FOCUS

The Girl Scouts Beyond Bars programs help

mothers and daughters stay connected during the

mothers’ incarceration.

Photo by Phil Sears for the Tallahassee Democrat

have managed to abide by these rules for

quite some time.” Other requirements

are outlined in a memorandum of understanding that each participant signs.

The mothers are not the only ones who

must adhere to tough standards to participate in the program. Along with taking

Girl Scout leadership training, the Girl

Scout volunteers must undergo a criminal

background check and participate in the

department’s volunteer orientation and

inservice training, according to Peggy

Hill, MCIW’s volunteer activity

coordinator.

“Contraband is always a concern in correctional institutions,” said Assistant

Warden Mitchell Franks. Mothers are

strip-searched after each mother-daughter

troop meeting. Thus far, no serious problems have arisen as a result of these contact visits. As one mother said, “If

anything goes wrong, they will shut this

program down.”

“The most difficult aspect for us has been

accommodating media requests,” commented Assistant Warden Franks. More

than 50 newspaper articles and substantial

local and network television time have favorably depicted the program, the department of corrections, and the Girl Scouts.

Program cost. The program offers much

in return for a relatively small outlay of

funds. The budget for the Maryland troop

is approximately $30,000 per year with

transportation-related expenses accounting for nearly half. Included in that sum

are Girl Scout support staff salaries, accident insurance, supplies, and other miscellaneous expenses.

When GSCM initially took on the project,

funds from its operating budget were used

to offset initial troop expenses. A onetime-only NIJ demonstration grant of

$15,000 partially offset initial costs. The

United Way of Central Maryland followed with a $10,000 grant and a continuation award of $8,500. Later a $20,000

award from the Maryland Department of

Public Safety and Correctional Services

was approved to sustain the program for

an additional year. With assistance from a

recently formed advisory committee, a

strategy for long-term funding is being

developed.

The mothers have also assumed some financial responsibility for their daughters’

troop. Last year MCIW residents and staff

purchased more than 900 boxes of Girl

Scout cookies from the girls. Funds generated from this sale were used to partially offset the salaries of paid Girl Scout

staff assigned to the project and for incidental troop expenses.

Florida’s Two-City

Program

Tallahassee

Within a few months of hearing about

GSBB, the Girl Scouts of the Apalachee

Bend (GSAB) and officials from the

Florida Department of Corrections had

their own program. The Florida groups

learned of NIJ’s pilot program in October

1993. By late January 1994 they had developed a more intensive program at

Jefferson Correctional Institution (JCI).

The Florida Governor’s Office is impressed with what the Girl Scouts, the

Florida Department of Corrections, and

their collaborating partners have accomplished at JCI. In April 1995 the program

was recognized by the Governor with his

annual “Peace at Home: Preventing Domestic Violence” award.

Focus on training in parenting. Pat

Chivers, GSAB’s executive director, said,

“We were really anxious to implement the

visitation program here. I knew that the

community would get behind this project.

But I also knew we would need to put together a comprehensive program if we

hoped to make a difference.”

The Florida mother-daughter meeting

schedule is similar to the Maryland program. Two Saturdays each month the girls

work with their Girl Scout troop leaders

in the community. On alternate Saturdays,

the mothers and their daughters meet for

troop meetings at JCI. Kerry Flack, assistant to Florida’s secretary of corrections,

pointed out how the program aimed, however, to expand on the Maryland pilot:

“We wanted to do all that we could to

support this program. Dr. Shayn Lloyd,

JCI’s staff psychologist, has been assigned to work with the mothers for at

least an hour after each mother-daughter

meeting.”

Not only do the mothers at JCI meet for a

longer time than they do in Maryland,

they also meet more frequently. Mothers

meet four times per month for almost 2

hours each session. Airie Sailor, a certified parenting instructor who works with

the mothers, explained, “Our sessions are

a hybrid of formal parenting instruction

utilizing a text developed specifically for

incarcerated parents and the Girl Scout

contemporary issues material. Mothers
8 National Institute of Justice

PROGRAM FOCUS

In the past few years, the Girl Scouts

Beyond Bars program’s promise has

been recognized by a number of organizations with the following awards:

1993—National Council of Juvenile

and Family Court Judges’ Annual

“Unique and Innovative Project” Award

1994—Maryland Criminal Justice

Association’s Annual “Outstanding

Project” Award

1995—The Florida Governor’s Annual

“Peace at Home: Preventing Domestic

Violence” Award

1995—The National Association of

Counties’ “Achievement” Award

Awards to Girl Scouts Beyond Bars

also have adequate time to plan for upcoming Girl Scout troop meetings.”

Partnerships. “Our program is small, 7

mothers and 12 girls, but growing

monthly,” said Donna Schestopol,

GSAB’s health promotion director. She

pointed out, “We have coordinated our efforts with other local agencies. We work

with the school system to monitor the

girls’ school performance. We are also

collaborating with Community Intervention Program, Inc., and the Glenn Terrell

Foundation, an organization that provides

services to inmates and their families, to

provide social services for the girls, their

guardians, and the mothers after they are

released. These services are provided at

no cost to us. We are just taking advantage of existing community resources.”

“Thus far three families in the program

have been referred to us,” said Deborah

Lloyd, director of Community Intervention Program, Inc. “We have an ability to

take our services to the home. Crisis intervention, behavioral counseling, resolving

school concerns, and working with the

caregiver on various parenting issues are

some of the services we have provided.”

Release from prison. “We are also targeting the mothers participating in the

Girl Scout program for our services,” said

Manuel Godfrey, program director for the

Glenn Terrell Foundation. While the

mother in the Girl Scout program is in

JCI, staff from the Glenn Terrell Foundation meet with her to determine her transition needs. A postrelease plan that

includes job placement counseling and

links to other needed social services is tailored to suit her specific needs. Once she

is released, the staff continue to meet with

her to carry out the plan. The staff also

perform a family assessment and collaborate with other agencies and organizations

in an effort to meet the entire family’s

needs. At least once each week, staff

members continue meeting with the entire

family until the social services are no

longer needed.

Program cost. The council initially received a $37,500 Community Juvenile

Justice Partnership Grant from the Attorney General’s Office of Florida. A continuation award of $57,848 was recently

received.

Program expansion. The program enjoys

strong support from Secretary Harry K.

Singletary of the Florida Department of

Corrections: “I am not interested in what

people say, I am interested in what they

do. I am very impressed with what the

Girl Scouts have done here. It is the

department’s goal to work with the Girl

Scouts to make this program available in

all four of our women’s institutions and in

our adult probation and parole populations. It is ambitious, but it is something

we need to work toward if we intend to

make a difference.”

Fort Lauderdale

Secretary Singletary’s goal for expansion

in Florida is becoming a reality. In February 1994 Girl Scout executive directors

from all 10 councils in Florida met in

Tallahassee to learn about the Girl Scouts

Beyond Bars program. Jeannette ArcherSimons, executive director of the Girl

Scouts of Broward County, attended the

meeting. Archer-Simons embraced the

program and saw it as an opportunity

rather than an obstacle.

Although Archer-Simons had recently

moved from Iowa and had been in her

new position for only 3 days when she

learned of the program, she immediately

went to work building the partnerships

necessary to implement a comprehensive

program. “We now have the support of

the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, a

commitment from Broward County

School District, Mount Bethel Baptist

Church, the Florida Department of Health

and Rehabilitation Services, and Women

in Distress, Henderson Mental Health

Center, Cambell Hall, and Woodson Psychological Services,” said Archer-Simons.

“Our program has just gotten off the

ground. I have high hopes for the program

and I have every belief that my expectations will be fulfilled.”

Ohio’s Program

Just one phone call started things in Ohio.

Once Dr. Barbara Nichols, warden of the

Franklin Pre-Release Center in Columbus,

Ohio, learned of the Girl Scouts Beyond

Bars program, she called Mary Ann

Binder of the Seal of Ohio Girl Scout

Council.

Binder said she saw a natural connection

for her organization, which already had a

longstanding relationship with the Ohio

Department of Rehabilitation and Correc-
Program Focus 9

PROGRAM FOCUS

tions. The Ohio Corrections Training

Academy had worked on a number of Girl

Scout programs, including the “I’m Safe,

Alert and Alive” program and the

council’s annual 20-hour Emergency Preparedness for Youth course. Inmates at

the Madison Correctional Institution had

created braille Girl Scout handbooks for

blind and visually impaired scouts. Binder

also helped the department in developing

and presenting a course on disability

awareness training. Binder therefore concluded, “When we learned of NIJ’s Girl

Scouts Beyond Bars program we knew it

was a perfect fit for us.”

The Ohio program operates much the same as

the program in Maryland. Twenty-five girls,

ages 5 to 11, meet with their mothers two times

per month but only attend community troop

meetings after their mothers have been released.

The mothers meet for Girl Scout planning sessions, but the program offers no formal

parenting instruction or mental health care.

Meeting on Tuesday evenings, the mothers and daughters eat a family-style dinner

together at the facility. “It enables families to talk around the dinner table like

you and I might do at home,” Binder said.

“In the beginning, the girls teased their

mothers about being ‘clean platers.’ Some

thought their mothers were living on a

diet of bread and water.”

Program cost. In its first year, the program was funded almost entirely from the

Seal of Ohio Girl Scout Council’s operating budget. The council is soliciting sustaining funding from foundations and

other private sources. In addition to purchasing Girl Scout cookies from their

daughters, the mothers recently raised

$1,700 for the troop from a cosmetic sale

they held within the institution.

Despite funding limitations, the Seal of

Ohio Girl Scout Council provides a yearround program. In addition, the council

went the extra mile and provided 18 of the

25 girls participating in the program the

Photo by Phil Sears for the Tallahassee Democrat

Inmate Catina discusses a homework lesson with her 7-year-old daughter, a member of the Brownies.

Beyond Bars program at our last national

conference,” said Tamara Woodbury,

ACPGSC’s executive director. “I was intrigued by the idea and anxious to get

started. However, we went into it with

eyes open. Working in a jail setting, given

the high population turnover, is an added

challenge.”

Women are to be carefully selected to

participate in this program which has so

far identified six mothers and seven girls

to participate (according to Ellen

Kirschbaum of the sheriff’s office).

In July 1995 the National Association of

Counties recognized the Phoenix Girl

Scouts Beyond Bars program with its

annual “Achievement” award.

Partnerships. The sheriff’s office is also

working diligently to forge links with

other service organizations. So far, it has

formed a partnership with Parents Anonymous to provide formal parenting instruction to the mothers, and ACPGSC has

formed a partnership with Valley Big

Brothers/Big Sisters.

Kirshbaum said, “We believe that this

collaboration will offer the girls a more

intense mentoring opportunity to complement her Girl Scout experience.”

opportunity to attend residential Girl

Scout summer camp.

Program expansion. In December 1994

with a grant from The Columbus Foundation, the Seal of Ohio Girl Scout Council

expanded its program to the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Ohio is the first State

to have this program in its prison with

transition to a prerelease center.

Claire Gribbin, a volunteer in the program,

said, “This is the most important thing the

Girl Scouts are doing right now.”

Arizona’s Jail

Program

When speaking of the partnership formed

with the Arizona Cactus-Pine Girl Scout

Council (ACPGSC), Sheriff Joe Arpaio of

Maricopa County said, “The Girl Scouts

Beyond Bars program is just going back

to the basics. Involvement in prevention

programs is nothing new for sheriffs.”

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is

the first in the Nation to implement the

program in a jail.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office approached its local Girl Scout Council with

the possibility of a partnership. “Attorney

General Reno spoke about the Girl Scouts
10 National Institute of Justice

PROGRAM FOCUS

though most correctional facilities cannot

contribute direct financial aid, corrections

officials can assist Girl Scout partners

with coalition building efforts within the

criminal justice, business, legal, State, and

local government communities. In-kind

support, such as detailing those under community service orders and/or boot camp

residents to do maintenance work at Girl

Scout camps, may also be appreciated by

local councils.22 Making a match between

council needs and those services provided

by the institution’s State-use industries

could also be a valued contribution.

A final challenge to both current and future partners is to reexamine the mission

of the program. Will it remain a visitation

program or will it expand its goals to

break intergenerational cycles of criminal

justice involvement and other negative social behaviors? If the latter mission is to

be assumed, these children and their families will require “high octane” programming. It is not reasonable to expect that a

child’s negative behaviors will be significantly lessened by a 2-hour meeting held

once per week.23 If the program is to effect long-term behavioral changes, partnerships with other organizations offering

complementary services and expertise

must be made.24

Correctional agencies will also have to be

willing to coordinate existing institutional

resources with their Girl Scout partners to

build a comprehensive intergenerational

program. “No one program can be all

things to all children or families,” said

Deborah Lloyd of Florida’s Community

Intervention Program, Inc. “If you want to

make an impact, you cannot serve a child

in a vacuum. When you are a youth service organization dealing with at-risk

youth, you are eventually going to have to

have a family focus in order to succeed.”

Success in family reunification, inmate recidivism, and delinquency prevention for

the child participant cannot realistically

Partnerships in Action

This program began with a one-timeonly NIJ demonstration grant. Today the

program is supported at sites throughout

the country with funds from private

donations, foundation, and States.

Maryland

Maryland Division of Corrections

United Way of Central Maryland

Private Donations

Tallahassee, Florida

Community Juvenile Justice

Partnership Program (Administered by

the Florida Attorney General’s Office)

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Henderson Foundation

Mount Bethel Baptist Church

Florida Department of Mental Health

and Rehabilitation Services

Delaware

Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Company

Ohio

The Columbus Foundation

Nationwide Insurance

Arizona

Arizona Community Foundation

Arizona Governor’s Office for Children

Valley of the Sun United Way

Thunderbird Youth Fund

New Jersey

Schumann Fund of New Jersey

Prudential Foundation

Kentucky

Anonymous Gift

City of Louisville Youth Alliance

Mercer Transportation Company

California

The Edison Company

Outlook

The feasibility of a partnership between

Girl Scout councils and correctional

facilities has been demonstrated. Such a

partnership can be formed with any motivated youth service organization, including those serving boys. The partnership

can augment an existing parenting or visitation program or it can be implemented

at institutions with no program in place.

Because the programs are based on organizational strength rather than the leadership of individuals, the Maryland and

Florida sites have weathered significant

turnover in both Girl Scout and correctional personnel. Although organizational

reliance provides an “insurance policy,” it

does not guarantee survival. The jury is

still out as to whether the Girl Scouts will

be able to sustain the program over time.

High-risk children generally, and this

group in particular, are an expensive

population to serve in terms of human

resources and finances. Survival of the

Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program will

depend, in part, on each participating

council’s ability to “reinvent” itself to

serve high-risk children from “zero parent” families.

Leadership, motivation, management

ability, fund development expertise, volunteer recruitment, and coalition building

strategies vary from council to council. It

is questionable whether councils with insufficient organizational capacity will be

able to build the necessary structure to

implement or sustain such a program over

time.

Survival will also depend, in part, on the

correctional institution’s willingness to

pull its weight in the partnership. Al-
Program Focus 11

PROGRAM FOCUS

be expected solely from a visitation program or with a fragmented, less than comprehensive approach.25

As for NIJ’s continued role, a grant was

recently competitively awarded to the

University of Baltimore to conduct a research and evaluation effort at the Maryland site. Within budget limits, the

Institute plans to continue to provide technical assistance to current and prospective

sites.

As the Carnegie task force pointed out,

“America’s interest in youth waxes and

wanes.”26 Maryland’s Secretary of Juvenile Services Stuart O. Simms concurred,

“If the Girl Scouts are to succeed in positively influencing the lives of our at-risk

youth, they must receive sustained and

unwavering community support. They

cannot shoulder this responsibility alone.”

Notes

1

 The Maryland Correctional Institution for

Women is a minimum/medium/maximum

adult correctional facility for those serving

sentences of 6 months and a day or more.

2

 Hairson, C.F., “Family ties during imprisonment: Important to whom and for what?”

Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Vol.

18 N1 (March 1991), 87–104; and Browne,

D., “Incarcerating Mothers and Parenting,”

Journal of Family Violence, Vol. 4, N2 (June

1989) :211–221.

3

 Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Carol E.

Smith is a member of the National Association

of Woman Judges (NAWJ). Judge Smith is a

past-president of NAWJ’s Maryland Chapter,

is a member of their national organization’s

committee on women in prison, and a member

of Maryland’s Girl Scouts Beyond Bars

Advisory Committee.

4

 Gabel, Stewart, “Children of incarcerated and

criminal parents: adjustment, behavior, and

prognosis.” Bulletin of the American Academy

of Psychiatry and the Law, Vol. 20, 33–45,

1992; Hungerford, Gregory, “The children of

inmate mothers: an exploratory study of

children, caretakers and inmate mothers in

Ohio,” Ohio State University (Dissertation),

1993, 85–89, 96, 105–106, 110.

5

 Gabel, Stewart, and Richard Shindledecker,

“Characteristics of children whose parents

have been incarcerated.” Hospital and

Community Psychiatry, Vol. 44, No. 7 (July

1993):658; Hungerford, 111–112; Lowenstein,

A., “Temporary single parenthood: the case of

prisoners’ families,” Family Relations, 35

(1986):79–85; Koban, L.A., “Parents in

prison: A comparative analysis of the effects

of incarceration on the families of men and

women,” Research in Law, Deviance, and

Social Control, 5 (1983):171–83; and Sack,

W.H., J. Seidler, and S. Thomas, “The

children of imprisoned parents: A

psychosocial exploration,” American Journal

of Orthopsychiatry, 46 (1976):618–28.

6

 Sack, Seidler, and Thomas, 658; Hungerford,

107–108, 112–113, 116; and Stanton, S.,

When Mothers Go to Jail, Lexington,

Massachusetts: D.C. Heath, 1980.

7

 Hungerford, 104–105; Bloom, Barbara,

“Why punish the children? A reassessment of

the impact of incarceration on the children of

women prisoners,” paper presented at

American Correctional Association, 122d

Congress, 1992; and Jose-Kampfner, Christina, “Michigan program makes children’s

visits meaningful,” Corrections Today

(August 1991):132–34.

8

 Barnhill S. and Dressel, P., Three Generations at Risk, Atlanta, GA: Aid to Imprisoned

Mothers. 1991

9

 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of

Justice Statistics. Survey of Youth in Custody,

Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics,

1987. See also American Correctional

Association, The Female Offender. Washington, DC: St. Mary’s Press, 1990; or ACA

Statistical Summary. Washington, DC:

American Correctional Association, 1991

(over 50% of all juvenile delinquents

imprisoned in 1990 have a parent who has

been incarcerated).

10 Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, Task Force on Youth Development and

Community Programs, A Matter of Time: Risk

and Opportunity in the Nonschool Hours,

New York: Carnegie Corporation of New

York, 1992, 54.

11 State of Maryland, “Governor’s Committee

to Study Sentencing and Correctional

Alternatives for Women Convicted of Crime,”

(Final Report), 1988.

12 Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge

Kathleen O’Ferrall Friedman chaired the

Maryland Governor’s Committee to Study

Sentencing and Correctional Alternatives for

Women Convicted of Crime. Judge Friedman

is also a member of the National Association

of Woman Judges (NAWJ), a member of

their national committee on women in prison

and a member of Maryland’s Girl Scouts

Beyond Bars Advisory Committee. In August

1993 Judge Friedman convened a subcommittee of the NAWJ-Maryland Chapter to review

the 1988 Governor’s Committee report.

13 Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 26.

14 Ibid. 12, 88.

15 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of

Justice Statistics, Women in Prison, Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, March

1994.

16 Datesman, Susan K., and Gloria L. Cales,

“‘I’m still the same mommy’: Maintaining the

mother/child relationship in prison,” The

Prison Journal, Vol. LXIII, No. 2 (AutumnWinter 1983):142.

17 Hungerford, 90–100.

18 See Gabel and Shindledecker, 660;

Hungerford, 88–90, 117, 124–25; Neto,

Virginia V., and LaNelle Marie Bainer,

“Mother and wife locked up: A day with the

family,” The Prison Journal. Vol. LXIII,

No. 2 (Autumn-Winter 1983):124.

19 See State of Maryland. Governor’s Committee to Study Sentencing and Correctional

Alternatives for Women Convicted of Crime

(1988): 22–23 (recommends linking parenting

instruction with visitation); See also

Hungerford, 136 (discussion of need to link

visitation to relevant parenting education).

20 See Hungerford, 142–145 (discussion of

need to link children of incarcerated persons

with local child welfare and mental health

services).

21 While the need for transition from prison to

prerelease is acknowledged, it should also be
12 National Institute of Justice

PROGRAM FOCUS recognized that the first break in an inmate

parent-child relationship takes place at arrest

and jail detention.

22 See Pitts, Chrystal, “Federal partnerships at

work,” Federal Prison Journal (Winter 1994):

15 (a discussion of use of Federal inmate work

crews to maintain and construct facilities on

U.S. Forest Service properties).

23 See Gabel and Shindledecker, 660; See

Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 12.

24 Arella, Lorinda R., “Multiservice adolescent

programs: Seeking institutional partnership

alternatives,” Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 22, No. 3 (1993):283, 284.

25 See Carnegie Council on Adolescent

Development, 12.

26 Ibid. 26.

COVER: Mothers and daughters find new

ways of learning about each other through

structured play. (Photo By Phil Sears for

the Tallahassee Democrat)

Findings and conclusions reported here

are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or

policies of the U.S. Department of

Justice.

 NCJ 156217 October 1995

The National Institute of Justice is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which

also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

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About This Study

This Program Focus was written by

Marilyn C. Moses, program manager,

National Institute of Justice. If you are

interested in receiving technical assistance to implement a Girl Scouts Beyond Bars partnership, contact

Ms. Moses at the National Institute of

Justice, 633 Indiana Avenue NW.

Rm. 805, Washington, DC 20531.

Telephone: 202–514–6205.